Men's Basketball

Q&A: Evan Lloyd, Wolves Men’s Basketball Head Coach

Evan Lloyd has renewed his contract and will continue in his role as head coach of the GPRC Wolves Men’s Basketball team for the 2019-2020 season.

We caught up with Lloyd, who has been a part of the Wolves program since 2015 and head coach since 2017, to learn more about this longstanding member of our wolf pack and find out how he plans to lead the team to success.

What made you decide to be a coach?

My dad coached me during my grade 10 and 11 years of high school. When I graduated from Peace Wapiti Academy (PWA) back in 2007, the team didn’t have a coach for the following year, so I volunteered to do it straight out of high school. It was definitely an adjustment coaching guys that I was just played with the previous year, but I realized how much I enjoyed the strategy of coaching. I decided to continue to coach at PWA and would attend ID Camps at GPRC purely as an observer, because I was more interested in watching the strategy of recruiting.

When JV [Jonathan Verhesen], and then Thomas [Slifka] came around and asked me to be more involved with the Wolves, it really opened me up to a higher level of competition and strategy. I haven’t looked back since.

What are the highlights of your career path that brought you to GPRC?

I did eight years of high school coaching with PWA, and while I was there I led the team to their first-ever AAA Zone Championship. We won five out of eight championships together. That was definitely a highlight for me!

I think the biggest achievement would be seeing guys I’ve coached during their high school or club years now thriving and growing in the ACAC. It’s been awesome to build those kinds of relationships with athletes.

What do you want GPRC athletes to know about you?

Just that I’m going to work as hard as them. I’m going to constantly build on my skills as a coach based on theirs and previous players’ feedback. I, too, am constantly learning and improving and I just want them to know that they’re putting in the work and so am I.

What’s one thing you think every coach should know?

As coaches we need to be constantly learning and getting better as well. We need to be growing with the players and how the game is changing. We’re not here to just put players through the system and repeat the same past mistakes, but to grow, learn and help our athletes reach their highest potential.

How would your athletes describe your coaching style?

I hear a lot on reviews that I’m very technically sound. Our play style is pretty open in letting our players connect and communicate on the court, but I’ll definitely let them know if they are taking a shot that we don’t approve of. We’re always making sure players are using their skills properly.

What do you do when you aren’t working?

I play a lot of outdoor sports, especially in the summer. I’m typically on the golf course or ball diamond. I’m also really into spikeball right now. We played it recently at my bachelor party and I’m hooked. I enjoy hanging out with friends, my fiancée and my cat, Nags.

Final thoughts on the opportunity of a fresh season ahead?

We’re bringing in a bunch of new players, so I’m looking forward to teaching them the GPRC ways early with the help of our five returning players. I’ll be leaning on them to teach the new players what it means to be a GPRC athlete, but I’m also looking forward to working with a young group of players. This will be my fifth season with the Wolves and I’ve always had a solid number of returning players, so I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead and seeing what we can achieve together.